Improved marine-propeller



R. OOVINGTON. MARINE PROPELLER.

Patented Nov. 15, 1864.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

l'l-lt lHARD COVINGIOX. ()F YVASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA IMPROVEDMARlNE-PROPELLER.

Specification forming part.- of Letters Patent No. 45, I 27,dat -dNovember 15. 186.1.

To all whom it may concern-.-

Be it known that I, RICHARD GOVINGTON, of \Vashington city, District ofColumbia, have ilwented a new and Improved Marine Propeller; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accom-' panyingdrawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l isaside elevation of my improved propeller, showing it by the aid of redlines in two positions. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the propeller in acontracted condition. Fig. 3 is an edge view of the upper portion of thepropeller. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the device for oscillating thepropeller and reversing its action. Fig. 5 is a perspective view showingthe construction of the paddles andtheir application to the arms of thepropeller.

This invention consists in the employment,

of two expanding and contracting paddlecarrying arms, which are operatedby contrivances hereinafter to be described, and receive a reciprocatingand an oscillating motion,

or the other of the float-boards of said paddle shall always maintain aposition which is nearly perpendicular to the surface o'f. the water,and enter and leave the water in said position, as will he hereinafterdescribed My invention finally consists in a marine propeller which hasits paddles applied to the outer extrein l ties of expandi n g andcontracting arms at equal distances from a common center, about whichsaid arms oscillate at every alternate backward and forward strokeof'the paddles, as will be hereinafter described.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willdescribe its construction and operation.

.111 the accompanying drawings, A represents a vertically-slottedstandard, which is suitably secured to the framework of a vessel and ais a sliding block, which receives a vertical reciprocating motion inthe slot or between the guides of said standard. Through this slidingblock,'-and securely ai'tixed to it, passes the main shaft 13, whichlatter receives its motion directly from the piston-rod of the engine.Two pendent rods, 1: b, are pivoted to the outer projecting end of thedriving-slant B, and being carried down the side of the vessel asuitable distance, these rods are connected together at theirv lowerends by a short rod, 1), which passes through the long slots of twoparallel oscillating arms, (J O. Said pin or rod 1) also forms the jointof the upper pair of expanding arms or levers 1), as clearly shown inFigsl and 2.

The lower ends of the oscillating slotted arms-G C are guided by asector, 0, which is secured rigidly to the side of the vessel in such aposition as to admit of a free oscilla tion of the arms 0 G on each sideof acentral line passing vertically through the axis of shaft I. At eachextremity of the sectorguide is a stop block, 0, which limits themovement of said arms. The axis of motion of the arms 0 U is at (l, andat this point a strong pin passes perpendicularlyinto the side of thevessel, and through the inner ends of the lower pair of expanding armsor levers l)" I), which arms, as well as those lettered l) l), are heldin place latterly by the two oscillating arms G (J. The extremities ofboth pairs of levers. 1') D I) I) have pivoted to them the paddlearms E1'), which are inclined at any desired angle from a horizontal plane,which inclination is obtained by shortening thcleverage oi thcupper pairof levers or lengthening that of the lower pair. The lever l) is pivotedto the lever l) at a point near the fixed center (I, and the lover I) ispivoted at a correspondin g distance from the center (I to the lever land as both levers D l) are pivot-ed at b it will be seen that when theshaft ll-l is thrown up and this fjpoint b thus raised by the connecting rods or stirrups bb,the outer ext-i-eniities ofthe two paddle-arms E15 will be contracted and assume the position represented in Fig. 2.Thcnwhen the shaft B is again depressed the arms E E will assume theexpanded position represented in Fig. 1.

The centers ot'inotionof the lovers and paddie-arms are arranged in suchrelation to each other that the extremities of the paddle-arms l) 16move in nearly a straight line, while the levers to which they arepivoted move in the arcs of circles.

The upper ends of the two slotted arms 0 (J are connected together byapin, 0, to which is pivoted by a sliding slotted connection (shown inFigs. 1 and 2) a vibrating lever or penduluin, F, the upper end of winchis rigidly atlix'ed tqthe outer extremity of a short rockshaft, Thisshaft has its hearings in the upper end of the standard A, and carrieson its opposite end a cross-head, g, through which two tripping-pins, hh, play loosely. These pins are pivoted to a. T-shaped lever, which is.connected by a pivot to the cross-head g. The lever G is used to reversethe motion of the pendulmn, and consequently to reverse the oscillationof the paddle-arms, as will be hereina-fter described.

At the back or on the inside of the standard A, and secured to thevertically-reeiproeating slide a, is a bifurcated tripping device, [1,provided with inclined edges i i it i, which act upon their respectivepins h h as the shaft B is reciprocated, and give an intermittentvibrating motion to the pendulum "F, which in its turn vibrates the arms0 U and transmits an oscillating motion to the two arms E E. When theend of pin it is exposed beyond the surface of the cross-head g,-asshown in Figs. 1 and 4, the inclined surfaces 6 i of the fork H will bebrought into action, and when the pin it is thrust out from saidcross-head the inclined surfaces i i will be brought into action, and bythus adjusting the pins h h the oscillating motion of the paddle-armscan be reversed at pleasure.

ThepaddlesJJ on the extremities otthe arms E E are both constructedalike; hence a. description of one will give a clearunderstanding of theother. The paddle J (represented clearly in Fig. 5) consists of twoboards, i, secured in any suitable manner tothe arm E, so that the upperedges will meet. These boards are secured at difl'erent angles to theirarm whichangles will vary according to the inclination of their arm; butit is intended that the outer board, j, shall leave the water when thepropelleris working, as shownin Fig. 2, in a perpendicular position toits surface, and the inner board,j, is intended to enter the water in aposition perpendicular to its surface when the arm E is extended. Whenthus arranged, one of the paddle-boards will gradually assume a verticalpositionas the other one looses this position. v

The operation of my propeller is as, follows: \Ve will suppose that thetripping pin h is thrust out from its cross-head, as shown in thedrawings. A reciprocating motion is given to the shaft or beam B, whichcauses the expansion and contraction of the two paddlearms E E, asrepresented by the two positions in Figs. 1 and 2. As the shaft Bascends, and i justbefore it completes its upward stroke, the inclinedsurface 11 of the fork H strikes the pin h, and oscillates thepropellers'so as to force one paddle, J, into the water and tl.'e otherpaddle, J, out of the water. The shaft B now descends, and thepaddle-arms are expanded. 'ie't'ore'this shaft 13 completes itsdownstroke, the inclined surface i strikes the pin it and ,tilts thepaddle-shafts agaimso that this time the paddle J is out of the waterand the paddle J is in a position to operate upon the water at thesucceeding upstroke of the shaft B. \Ve thus have an alternate thrustingand pulli ng'action, and while one paddle is operating upon the waterthe other is out of the water, but moving in a position to operate atthe next stroke.

When it'is desired to reverse the motion of" the paddles, the pin hisbroughtinto action and are applied to the sides of a vessel, one enginecanbe made to work both, and the beam or shaft B can .be elevatedsufficiently above the deck to allow free access for passengers to walkunder it.

In some cases of river or ocean vessels, one

propeller working in the center of the vessel may be used, the latterbeing of course so constructed as to admit of this change.

1 do not desire to limit my invention to the use of the contrivancewhich I have herein described for oscillating the levers and arms whichoperate the paddles, as other means 1nay be employed for this purpose;nor do I confine myself to the expanding and contracting arms and leversfor giving motion to the compound paddles, as it is obvious that thispart of my invention may be carried out-in many different ways.

The contrivance for reversing the action or the propellers maybearrangcd over the center of the deck and worked directly from thepiston-rod, so as to operate upon both propropellers simultaneously.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. Giving an oscillating motion to expanding and contracting paddle-armsby means substantially as described.

2. Reversing the action of expanding and contracting propellers by meansof a rockshaftgf, and pendulum F, acted upon by a fixed fork, .H, or theequivalents thereof, substantially as described.

3. The levers D l), with an oscillating frame, 0, moving about a fixedcenter, (7, substantially as described.

4. The fixed guide 0 and stops 0' c, in combination with a pivotedframe, 0, and devices for oscillating this frame, substantially asdescribed.

5. The paddle J j j, substantially as and for the purpose described.

6. The employment of expanding and contracting levers I) D I) D and E E,ar-

ranged on each side of and supported by a fixed or airoscillating frame,0, or the equivalentt-hereof, substantially as described.

7. The arms D D pivoted at different points 011 the paddle-arm E,substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

RICHARD COVINGTON.

Witnesses:

R. T; CAMPBELL, SMITH KELLER.

